Rosary

ABSTRACT

The invention provides an abbreviated rosary associated with a handheld item. The rosary includes end-indexers, a triad of indexers, a hexad of indexers, and an intermediate indexer interposed the triad and hexad. A religious icon can be further included. The rosary can be attached to, engaged with or integral with the handheld item.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO EARLIER FILED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of and is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. 29/432,534 filed Sep. 17, 2012, and acontinuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 13/771,925 filed Feb. 20, 2013,the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a rosary, in particular a chapletrosary, and items comprising the rosary.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Rosaries are used for keeping track of the number of particular prayersrecited during a prayer session. The typical rosary has five decades,i.e. five groups of ten, of indexers, e.g. beads, of the same kind ortype, wherein the decades are separated by individual indexers. Theindexers of the decades may be different or the same as the individualseparator indexers. The typical rosary also includes a triad of indexersthat are the same as the indexers of the decades and two additionalseparator indexers, one on each end of the triad. A religious icon, suchas a cross, crucifix, dove, Marian image, icthus, nimbus, branch, angel,or other such icon, is also included.

Abbreviated rosaries having less than five decades are also known. Thesetypically include: a) a single decade of indexers and a religious icon;and b) a single decade of indexers, a religious icon, and a triad ofindexers, the two groups being separated by a separator indexer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an improved rosary that has substantiallyless indexers than a typical rosary and that facilitates praying of therosary while a person conducts routine tasks. This compact rosary iseasier to carry than the typical rosary and can be incorporated into orengaged with the structure of almost any hand-held item.

In one aspect, the rosary comprises, consists essentially of, orconsists of, in sequence (in series), a first end-indexer, a triad ofsecond indexers, a separator-indexer (or an intermediate indexer), ahexad of second indexers, and a second end-indexer. The rosaryoptionally further comprises at least one religious icon.

In some embodiments, the first end indexer is adjacent the triad ofindexers, which is adjacent the intermediate indexer, which is adjacentthe hexad of indexers, which is adjacent the second end indexer. Byadjacent is meant “next to with no other indexer there between” or “insequence with, optionally comprising a space or spacer (not an indexer)there between”.

Another aspect of the invention provides a handheld utensil comprising:a) a body comprising a grasping portion; b) a rosary comprising,consisting essentially of, or consisting of, in sequence, a firstend-indexer, a triad of second indexers, a separator-indexer, a hexad ofsecond indexers, and a second end-indexer, wherein the rosary is engagedwith (attached to or integral with) the grasping portion; and c) atleast one religious icon.

Some embodiments of the rosary include those wherein: a) the secondindexers of the triad and hexad are of the same type and/or of the samekind; b) the first end-indexer and the second-end indexer are of thesame type, of the same kind and/or have the same first feature; c) thefirst end-indexer, the separator indexer, and the second-end indexer areof the same type, of the same kind and/or have the same second feature;d) the second indexers of the triad and hexad are different than thefirst end-indexer and the second-end indexer, and optionally differentthan the separator indexer; e) the at least one religious icon isdisposed adjacent an end-indexer; f) the second indexers of triad andhexad are different than the first end-indexer, the separator indexer,and the second-end indexer; g) the indexers of the rosary are defined bymarkings, grooves, notches, channels, ridges, swells, colors and/orlines; h) the rosary is rigid or semi-rigid; i) the indexers of therosary do not comprise a chain, cord, string, rope, metal fastener orthread; j) the indexers of the rosary are linked to one another, such asby a chain, cord, string, rope, metal fastener or thread; k) acombination thereof; l) the indexers of the triad and hexad are thesame; m) the first end-indexer, the separator indexer, and thesecond-end indexer are the same; or n) a combination thereof

Some embodiments of the handheld item include those wherein: a) thehandheld item is selected from the group consisting of a cookingutensil, writing utensil, stylus, tool, keychain fob, jewelry, pendant,necklace, bracelet, earring, hairpin, bookmark, card, sticker, cross orcombination thereof; b) the body is part of a handle of the hand-helditem; c) the rosary is attached to, engaged with, or integral with thebody; d) the body is rigid or semi-rigid; and/or e) the writing utensilis a pen, pencil, marker, stylus or combination thereof. In someembodiments, the rosary is printed onto a handheld item.

Some embodiments of the invention comprise a handheld item comprising arosary comprising in series a first end indexer, a triad of indexers, anintermediate indexer, a hexad of indexers and a second end indexer. Thehandheld item can further comprise a religious icon. The rosary can belinear, curved, twisted or forms an open or closed loop.

Some embodiments of the invention comprise an open or closed loop shapedhandheld item comprising a rosary comprising in series a firstintermediate indexer, a triad of indexers, a second intermediate indexerand a hexad of indexers adjacent to both the first intermediate indexerand the second intermediate indexer.

The specification discloses one or more embodiments that incorporatefeatures of this invention. The disclosed embodiment(s) exemplify theinvention. The scope of the present invention is not limited solely tothe disclosed embodiments. The invention includes all combinations andsub-combinations of the various aspects and embodiments disclosedherein. These and other aspects of this invention will be apparent uponreference to the following detailed description, examples, claims andattached figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a partof the specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the presentinvention and, together with the description, further serve to explainthe principles of the present invention and to enable a person skill inthe pertinent art to make and use the invention. The following drawingsare given by way of illustration only, and thus are not intended tolimit the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 depicts front elevation of a first embodiment of the rosary ofthe invention.

FIG. 2 depicts a front elevation of a second embodiment of the rosary ofthe invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a front elevation of a third embodiment of the rosary ofthe invention.

FIG. 4 depicts a front elevation of a fourth embodiment of the rosary ofthe invention.

FIG. 5 depicts a front elevation of a fifth embodiment of the rosary ofthe invention.

FIGS. 6A and 6B depict side and front elevations, respectively, of a pencomprising a rosary of the invention.

FIG. 7 depicts a front elevation of a solid body comprising a rosary ofthe invention.

FIG. 8 depicts a front elevation of a combination pen and styluscomprising a rosary of the invention.

FIGS. 9A and 9B depict a front elevation of an alternate embodiment of acombination pen and stylus comprising a rosary of the invention.

FIG. 10 depicts a front elevation of a stylus comprising a rosary of theinvention.

FIGS. 11A and 11B depict a front elevation of another alternateembodiment of a combination pen and stylus comprising a rosary of theinvention.

FIG. 12 depicts a front elevation of a mechanical pencil comprising arosary of the invention.

FIGS. 13A and 13B depict a front elevation of another alternateembodiment of a combination pen and stylus comprising a rosary of theinvention.

FIG. 14 depicts a front elevation of an alternate stylus comprising arosary of the invention.

FIG. 15 depicts a top plan view of a ring or pendant style rosary of theinvention.

FIG. 16 depicts a top plan view of an alternate ring or pendant stylerosary of the invention.

FIG. 17 depicts a top plan view of an alternate ring or pendant stylerosary of the invention.

FIG. 18 depicts a top plan view of an alternate rosary of the invention.

FIG. 19 depicts a top plan view of an alternate rosary of the invention.

FIG. 20A depicts a side elevation view of an alternate rosary of theinvention.

FIG. 20B depicts an end view of the rosary of FIG. 20A.

FIG. 21 depicts a top plan view of a rosary in the shape of a cross.

FIG. 22 depicts a top plan view of a pendant style rosary.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Although a rosary is typically used by the Catholic faithful to keeptrack of the number of Hail Mary prayers, Lord's Prayer (Our Fatherprayer), Glory Be prayers, Apostle's Creed, Nicene Creed, Hail HolyQueen and/or other such prayers recited during a prayer session, it canbe used by those of other religions to keep track of other prayersrecited, such as psalms, verses, proverbs, etc., especially those takenfrom a religious text, such as the Bible, Koran, or Torah.

The indexers of the rosary can be made of any material or combination ofmaterials suitable for making hand-held items. Suitable materialsinclude metal, wood, plastic, rubber, foam, glass, gem, jewel, stone,rock, cardboard, masonite, concrete, leather, cord, string, rope,thread, wire, cork, gel, cloth, synthetic material, pewter, alloy,polymer, any other material known for making a hand-held item andcombinations thereof.

FIG. 1 depicts a first embodiment of a rosary (1) of the inventioncomprising in series a first end-indexer (2), a triad of indexers (3), ahexad of indexers (5), an intermediate indexer (4) interposed the triadand hexad, and a second end-indexer (6) at an opposite end of the rosaryfrom the first end-indexer. The indexers of the hexad and triad are ofthe same type or share at least one first feature in common, and thefirst end-indexer, second end-indexer and intermediate indexer eachshare at least one second feature in common, wherein the first andsecond features are of the same type. For example the triad and hexadshare the same first color or same first color scheme, and the firstend-indexer, second end-indexer and intermediate indexer share the samesecond color or same second color scheme. Even though the indexers (2-6)have the same shape they are depicted in different shades to indicate atleast two different colors or color schemes. The triad and hexad neednot be the darker color. They can be the lighter color. This rosary canbe made of foam, rubber, sponge, gel, wood, metal, plastic, glass,stone, cloth, ceramic, cardboard, paper, leather, pulp, pressboard, acombination thereof or any other material(s) described herein or knownfor use in making handheld items. In some embodiments, the indexers ofthe hexad and triad are the same, and the first end-indexer, secondend-indexer and intermediate indexer are the same but differ by at leastone feature from the indexers of the triad and hexad.

The rosary (1) can be a rod or tube. The tube embodiment permitsinsertion of a handheld utensil (not depicted) therein. For example, awriting utensil or finger can be placed through the tube rosary, whichcan serve as a grip. The tube rosary can also serve as a finger cuff(sleeve), which is optionally incorporated into the finger of a glove.

FIG. 2 depicts a second rosary (10) comprising in sequence a firstend-indexer (14), a triad of indexers (11), an intermediate indexer(15), a hexad of indexers (12), and a second end-indexer (16). Theindexers are defined by and spaced from each other by grooves (channels,13). In some embodiments, the rosary (10) is a single body, wherein thegrooves (13) define the indexers (11, 12, 14-16). In some embodiments,the indexers (11, 12, 14-16) are affixed to a central body. In someembodiments, the indexers (11, 12, 14-16) are slideably engaged withcentral body. In some embodiments, the indexers (11, 12, 14-16) areremoveably or permanently engaged with the central body. The indexers(14, 15, 16) are depicted as being wider or longer than the indexers ofthe triad (11) and hexad (12); however, the reverse is also possible.The rosary (10) can be a rod, tube or stick. It can be flat or have across-section (perpendicular to the lengthwise axis of the rosary) thatis round, ovular, square, triangular, rectangular, trapezoidal,pentagonal, hexagonal or other such geometric shape.

FIG. 3 depicts another rosary (20) comprising in series a firstend-indexer (21), a triad of indexers (22), an intermediate indexer(23), a hexad of indexers (24) and a second end-indexer (25). Theindexers, which are rings or bands, all have a flat circumferentialsurface such that the silhouette or profile of each indexer, when therosary is assembled as depicted, is rectangular.

FIG. 4 depicts an alternate embodiment of the rosary of FIG. 1. Thisrosary (30) comprises in series a first end-indexer (31), a triad ofindexers (32), an intermediate indexer (33), a hexad of indexers (34)and a second end-indexer (35). The indexers of the hexad and triad havethe same first shape (cylindrical with rounded circumferential surface),and the indexers of the other three indexers (31, 32 33) have the samesecond shape (cylindrical with flat circumferential surface), whereinthe first shape is different than the second shape. Moreover, theindexers of the triad and hexad are shorter (as their length is measuredalong the lengthwise axis of the rosary) than the other three indexers(31, 32 33).

FIG. 5 depicts an alternate embodiment of the rosary of FIG. 4. Therosary (40) comprises in series a first end-indexer (41), a triad ofindexers (42), an intermediate indexer (43), a hexad of indexers (44)and a second end-indexer (45). The indexers of the hexad and triad havethe same first shape (rounded circumferential surface), and the indexersof the other three indexers (41, 42, 43) have the same second shape(rounded circumferential surface with a wider arc), wherein the firstshape is different than the second shape. Moreover, the indexers of thetriad and hexad are shorter (as their length is measured along thelengthwise axis of the rosary) than the other three indexers (41, 42,43)

FIG. 6A depicts a side elevation of a writing utensil (50) comprising arosary (52) according to the invention. The rosary can be engaged with,affixed to or integral with the body (51) of the writing utensil. FIG.6B depicts a front elevation of the writing utensil (50) furthercomprising a religious icon (53), which can serve as the clip of thewriting utensil. The writing utensil can be a pen, pencil, mechanicalpencil, marker, etc.

FIG. 7 depicts a handheld utensil (55) comprising a body, a rosary and areligious icon (60). The rosary comprises in series a first end-indexer(56), a hexad of indexers (57), an intermediate indexer (58), a triad ofindexers (59) and a second end-indexer (61). The indexers are defined bygrooves. The grooves and religious icon can be etched or molded. Thegrooves can also space the indexers apart. The handheld utensiloptionally includes a marking area (62), which can further includeprinted and/or etched markings, such as text, logo, artwork or acombination thereof. In some embodiments, the grooves defining theindexers, and therefore the indexers themselves, completely or partiallycircumscribe the handheld utensil. The utensil can be a stick, keychain,rod, tube, handle, pendant, jewelry or any other item that can be held.

FIG. 8 depicts a top plan view of a handheld utensil (65) comprising acombination of a stylus (66), pen (69), rosary (68), religious icon(67).

FIG. 9A depicts a top plan view of a handheld utensil (70) comprising acombination of a stylus (71), rosary (72), mount (73), tethered cross(76), cap (75) and clip (74). The cap can be slid off of one end in thedirection of arrow (A), flipped over and slid onto the end with thestylus leaving exposed the pen (77) depicted in FIG. 9B.

FIG. 10 depicts a side elevation view of a handheld utensil comprising astylus, rosary, clip, mount and religious icon (80), which is etched,lathed, sanded, engraved or printed onto the utensil.

FIG. 11A depicts a front elevation of a retractable or telescopichandheld utensil (85) comprising a stylus and rosary at one portion anda stylus, cap (87) and clip (88) at the other portion. The rosary can beinserted in and out of the cap in the direction of arrow B to providethe retracted handheld utensil depicted in FIG. 11B.

FIG. 12 depicts a handheld utensil (90) comprising a mechanical pencil,clip (91), eraser (92), religious icon (93) and rosary (94). Thisrosary, i.e. the lines defining the indexers of the rosary, can bemolded into (be integral with) or it can be slid onto (permanently orremovably) or attached to (permanently or removably) the body of thepencil.

FIG. 13A depicts a front elevation of a handheld utensil (95) comprisinga keychain, fob or pendant, rosary (96), religious icon (97), stylus(98), and pen (99), which can be slid into and out of the body of thekeychain. This particular embodiment comprises a screw thread as a meansto secure the pen either with the shaft of the pen in the body (asdepicted in FIG. 13A) or with the shaft of the pen exposed and the loopin the body (as depicted in FIG. 13B). Other connections means such aspress-fit, snap-fit, pressure fit or combinations thereof can beemployed to pen to the body of the keychain.

The handheld utensil (100) of FIG. 14. In this embodiment, however, itcomprises an insert (103) onto which a message-bearing material, e.g.paper, cloth, plastic, rubber or other material, can be secured andplaced about the shaft of the insert. In this way, prayers can bewritten on the message-bearing material so that a user of the rosary canrecite prayers on the message-bearing material.

FIG. 15 depicts a top plan view of a loop shaped handheld itemcomprising a rosary (105) comprising in series a first end indexer(107), a triad of indexers (108), an intermediate indexer (109), a hexadof indexers (110) and a second end indexer. The handheld item canfurther comprise a religious icon (106). The loop can be an open orclosed loop and can comprise any top plan view geometric shape, e.g.circle (depicted), oval, square, triangle, pentagon, hexagon, decagon,dodecagon, etc. The intermediate, first end and second end indexers(107, 109, 111) are depicted as having substantially the same size andshape and as being larger and of a different geometric shape than theindexers of the triad (108) and hexad (110). Likewise, the indexers ofthe triad and hexad have substantially the same size and shape. The itemcan be a pendant, bracelet, necklace, ring, or other such item.

FIG. 16 depicts a top plan view of an alternate loop shaped handhelditem comprising a rosary (115) which comprises in series a firstintermediate indexer (116), a triad of indexers (117), a secondintermediate indexer (118) and a hexad of indexers (119) adjacent toboth the first intermediate indexer (116) and the second intermediateindexer (118). This particular embodiment is different than othersdescribed herein in that it does not have end indexers and is acontinuous rosary. It optionally further comprises a religious icon(120) which can be integral with or tethered to (depicted) the rosary.

FIG. 17 depicts a top plan view of an alternate linked handheld itemcomprising a rosary (125) which comprises in series a first end indexer(126, a square gem), a triad of indexers (127, three octagonalstar-shaped gems), an intermediate indexer (128, a square gem), a hexadof indexers (129, three octagonal star-shaped gems), and a second endindexer (130, a square gem). The handheld item also comprises a keychainring (131), and a cross (132) tethered to the ring. The rosary is alsoattached to the ring. In some embodiments, the indexer comprises a bead,ball, stone, gem, jewel, drop or other such item used for makingjewelry.

FIG. 18 depicts a handheld item of the invention comprising a card orstick having an integral rosary defined by notches in the periphery ofthe card. The rosary (135) comprises in sequence a first end indexer(140), a triad of indexers (136), an intermediate indexer (137), a hexadof indexers (138) and a second end indexer (139). A cross (141,religious icon) can be printed onto the rosary. The first end indexer,intermediate indexer and second end indexer have the same first axiallength (as measured along the axis of the card or stick), and theindexers of the triad and hexad have the same second axial length,wherein the first and second axial lengths are different, e.g. the firstaxial length is greater than the second axial length. The item alsocomprises a hole (143) through which a ring (142) can be engaged.

FIG. 19 depicts a handheld item (145) comprising a flat body (146) and arosary comprising a religious icon (147), a first end indexer (148), atriad of indexers (149), a separator indexer (150), a hexad of indexers(151) and a second end indexer (152). The indexers and/or the religiousicon can be defined by holes, recesses, indentations, bosses, bumps, orother such markings. The indexers can also be printed, laminated,engraved, etched, adhered, engaged or pressed on the flat body. The flatbody can be a card or other such body. The flat body can be a permanentor removable sticker

FIG. 20A depicts a handheld item (155) comprising an elongate body (162)having grooves (notches) and that define a triad of indexers (158), aseparator indexer (159), and a hexad of indexers (160). A first endindexer (157) and a second end indexer (161) are defined by theperiphery of the body and the grooves. FIG. 20B depicts an end view ofthe item. The body can comprise a resilient, flexible, semi-rigid orrigid material. For example, the body can comprise a flexible orsemi-rigid material that allows flexure in the direction of Arrow F suchthat the elongate body can be placed over and grasp another elongateobject such as a writing utensil, handle, finger, stick, etc.

FIG. 21 depicts a top plan view of a holding-cross (165) comprising arosary of the invention. The rosary comprises a triad of markers (166),a hexad of markers (167), a first end marker (168 a), a second endmarker (168 c) and an intermediate marker (168 b) between and adjacentto each the triad and hexad. The cross further comprises two opposinggroups of markers (169 a, 169 b) adjacent the intermediate marker,thereby forming a cross.

FIG. 22 depicts a rosary (170) comprising secured to a jump ring (171)that has a cross (or other religious icon) attached or engaged thereto.The jump ring can be used to mount the rosary onto another item such asa key ring, necklace, caning, bracelet, fob, handwriting utensil, tool,zipper, etc.

The markers of the rosary can be secured to each other by cord, string,wire, pin, strand, strap, band, bar lock or other such material. Theycan also be fused, glued or adhered to adjacent markers or onto asubstrate to which the markers are mounted or engaged with.

In some embodiments, the invention comprises a handheld item and arosary of the invention printed, lathed, embossed, pressed, engraved,and/or etched onto the handheld item. For example, the invention can bea card having a rosary printed, embossed, pressed, engraved, and/oretched thereon. In some embodiments, the invention comprises a handhelditem and a rosary of the invention cut out of the handheld item. Forexample, the invention can be a card having a rosary with the indexerscut out (such as with a die) of the card, such that the indexers aredefined by holes in the card. The rosary can also be formed by lathingthe surface of a body to form grooves, recesses or indentations definingthe indexers. The indexers can be drops of material adhered to or moldedinto a handheld item, wherein the indexers are placed in series orsequence as defined herein. Combinations of these embodiments arecontemplated.

In some embodiments, the rosary (FIG. 18, (135)) of the invention isused as follows. A person holding the rosary begins with a sign of thecross and recites an Apostle's Creed while placing a finger or thumb atthe cross (141). They then recite an Our Father prayer on theintermediate indexer (137). They then recite three Hail Mary prayers,one on each indexer of the triad (136) and end the triad by reciting aGlory Be prayer. They then recite a first Holy Mystery and an Our Fatherprayer at the first end indexer (140). They then recite ten Hail Maryprayers by reciting one at each of the indexers of the triad (136), oneat the intermediate indexer (137), and one at each of the indexers ofthe hexad (138) and end that decade of Hail Mary prayers with a Glory Beprayer at the second end indexer. They then recite a second Holy Mysteryand an Our Father prayer at the second end indexer (139). They thenrecite another decade of Hail Mary prayers using each indexer in reverseorder from the hexad, the intermediate indexer and the triad to end backat the first end indexer. This process of recitation of the Hail Maryprayers, Our Father prayers, Glory Be prayers and Holy Mysteries isrepeated until five decades of Hail Mary prayers are completed. Afterthe fifth decade, a Hail Holy Queen prayer is recited. All of theseprayers and Holy Mysteries and the method of praying the rosary are wellknown to Catholic faithful and are further described by the Vatican andother sources (http://www.rosary-center.org/howto.htm). The HolyMysteries are represented by four groups, each having five individualmysteries. The groups are the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries,the Glorious Mysteries and the Luminous Mysteries (Mysteries of Light).The Joyful Mysteries include the annunciation, the visitation, thenativity, the presentation, and the finding of Jesus in the temple. TheSorrowful Mysteries include the agony in the garden, the scourging atthe pillar, the crowing with thorns, the carrying of the cross, thecrucifixion. The Glorious Mysteries include the resurrection, theascension, the descent of the Holy Spirit, the assumption of Mary, andthe coronation of Mary. The Luminous Mysteries include the baptism ofJesus, the miracle at the wedding at Cana, the proclamation of thekingdom, the transfiguration of Jesus, and the institution of theEucharist.

In view of the above description and the examples described herein anddepicted in the drawings, one of ordinary skill in the art will be ableto practice the invention as claimed without undue experimentation. Theexamples should not be considered exhaustive, but merely illustrative ofonly a few of the many embodiments contemplated by the presentinvention.

The above is a detailed description of particular embodiments of theinvention. It will be appreciated that, although specific embodiments ofthe invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration,various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

1. A rosary comprising in sequence a first end indexer, a triad of indexers, an intermediate indexer, a hexad of indexers, and a second end indexer, wherein the first end indexer, intermediate indexer and second end indexer comprises indexers that are different than the triad and hexad of indexers.
 2. A loop rosary comprising in series a first intermediate indexer, a triad of indexers, a second intermediate indexer and a hexad of indexers adjacent to both the first intermediate indexer and the second intermediate indexer.
 3. The rosary of claim 1, wherein the triad of indexers and the hexad of indexers are of the same type and/or of the same kind and different than the first end indexer, second end indexer and intermediate indexer.
 4. The rosary of claim 3, wherein the triad of indexers and the hexad of indexers have the same size, shape, appearance, color and/or surface texture.
 5. The rosary of claim 1, wherein the first end indexer, second end indexer and intermediate indexer are of the same type and/or of the same kind and different than the triad of indexers and the hexad of indexers.
 6. The rosary of claim 5, wherein the first end indexer, second end indexer and intermediate indexer have the same size, shape, appearance, color and/or surface texture.
 7. The rosary of claim 1 further comprising a religious icon.
 8. The rosary of claim 7, wherein the indexers of the rosary are defined by markings, grooves, notches, channels, ridges, embossings, cuts, swells, colors, etched lines, engraved lines, bead, ball, stone, gem, jewel, drop, other item used for making jewelry, or a combination thereof.
 9. The rosary of claim 7, wherein the indexers of the rosary are linked to one another.
 10. The rosary of claim 7, wherein rosary is linear, curved, twisted, forms an open loop or forms a closed loop.
 11. The rosary of claim 7 comprising a cross-section, perpendicular to the lengthwise axis of the rosary, that is round, flat, ovular, square, triangular, rectangular, trapezoidal, pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal, octagonal, nonagonal, decagonal, undecagonal, dodecagonal or other geometric shape.
 12. The rosary of claim 7, wherein an indexer is selected from ring, band, bead, ball, stone, gem, jewel, drop, jewelry finding, other item used for making jewelry, or a combination thereof.
 13. The rosary of claim 12, wherein the circumferential surface of the rings or bands is flat, rounded or irregular.
 14. The rosary of claim 7, wherein the indexers of the triad and hexad are shorter, as measured along the lengthwise axis of the rosary, than the first end indexer, intermediate indexer and second end indexer, or wherein the indexers of the first end indexer, intermediate indexer and second end indexer are shorter, as measured along the lengthwise axis of the rosary, than the indexers of the triad and hexad.
 15. An item comprising the rosary of claim
 1. 16. The item of claim 15, wherein the item is selected from the group consisting of a rod, tube, handle, jewelry, cooking utensil, writing utensil, stylus, tool, keychain fob, jewelry, pendant, necklace, bracelet, earring, hairpin, bookmark, finger sleeve, cuff, glove, card, cross, sticker, string, cord, wire, band, or combination thereof.
 17. The item of claim 16, wherein the writing utensil is a pen, mechanical pencil, pencil, marker, stylus or combination thereof.
 18. The item of claim 15, wherein the rosary is attached to, engaged with, or integral with the item.
 19. The item of claim 15, wherein the rosary is removeably, slideably, or permanently attached to or engaged with the item.
 20. The item of claim 15, wherein the indexers completely or partially circumscribe the item.
 21. The item of claim 15 further comprising a body, wherein the rosary is retractable in and out of the body.
 22. A rosary comprising in sequence a first end indexer adjacent a triad of indexers, which is adjacent an intermediate indexer, which is adjacent a hexad of indexers, which is adjacent a second end indexer, wherein: a. the first end indexer, intermediate indexer and second end indexer comprise indexers that are different than the triad and hexad of indexers; b. the triad of indexers and the hexad of indexers are of the same type and/or of the same kind and different than the first end indexer, second end indexer and intermediate indexer; and c. the first end indexer, second end indexer and intermediate indexer are of the same type and/or of the same kind and different than the triad of indexers and the hexad of indexers. 